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Author
Topic: Kidney Pain (Read 2776 times)

Hi all. Question for you (and one I will pose to my ID doc next Friday). I get cramp-feeling pain on both sides of my mid-section many times during the day. Until recently I figured this was a result of playing more and more tennis and moving from side to side much more on the courts (twisting to make shots). But recently, it really has been noticeable even on days I don't play.

I've had a full medabolic panel done on 10/18 (see below) but don't see where if I had kidney "issues" it would register. I'm taking Atrilpa with a TCell count of 508 and VL of 250. I take a vitamin d supplement (2000 iu a day) per the doc and a multivitamin. I drink a lot of water as well.

Kidney issues would register in the GFR, creatinine, glucose, albumin, total protein and sodium/potassium ratio. As the figures stand they do not indicate kidney problems. The only things of concern are the moderately high glucose and total protein. These may warrant a retest.

As newt said, kidney issues would show up in those labs. Is it a muscle pain or feel like coming from within? I often get pain on both sides that I think are gut issues--gas probably. I will often feel pain on both sides and a feeling of fullness there--even if I haven't eaten.

As for the glucose reading-- is this the same as when ya prick your finger to check sugar on one of those machines? I know normal for that was like between 60-120 on my mom's machine. Mine read 115, but I had just eaten. After a few hours, it had dropped to like 68. Had you just eaten? I know you weren't asking about that.

Thanks guys. I too am slightly concerned with my VL - has yet to go undected. I had given Atripla 1 more chance (90 days) but will discuss changing to Truvada/Issentress of Truvada/Viramune when I see her next week. Undect is my goal (and hers) but I wanted to give Atripla enough of a shot. Know what I mean?

The "pain" is like the feeling you get when you get a cramp on your side after running. I get these pains when I am not exercising and don't have them when I do exercise. Weird.

Adding to the sage words of advice you've already received, it's worth noting that when some sort of kidney disease causes pain -- kidney infections and kidney stones can do this -- it's usually reported as lower- or mid-back pain and is more noticeable on one side. Kidney problems don't typically cause side pain (especially on both sides).

Ah, new meds...well, fast is good n 6 months to "undetectable" is a benchmark, but 250 viral load is a good result after a few weeks, and down, if it's down next time, this is good too. Sometimes it does take a while to hit viral load of less than 50.

Everyone's body is different, so this may not be anywhere near what the problem may be --- but earlier on in my diagnosis I was getting pains on left side and sometime back near my kidneys -- cat scan showed that I had an enlarged spleen.... Dr. said that spleen is basically like a big lymph node and it is common to experience periodic bout of enlargement w/ HIV+ people and associated pain.... they basically didn't do anythiing for it, but said if it got to bad (the pain or the enlargement) then they would have to look at options.

I was just reading about how important the spleen is to our immune system. I was wondering if it being enlarged is an issue like it may be if liver was enlarged?

If you keep having problems that bother you, I would request ultra-sound or MRI. I guess this will depend on if insurance/programs will cover the costs. Most docs would want to rule out gas issues before doing those.

Mine was only moderately enlarged --Dr. basically said that they would just monitor it and if it started getting too painful or enlarged they would look at options. They really don't like to remove it -- in non-pos people and more so in + people because it is important to immune function and post operation serious infections can occur. So, for now, mine is monitored and hasn't been bothering me, especially since starting meds (Atripla) in 12/09.